Robert’s Story
Acclaimed for giving songs a “new emotional life,” Robert Whorton began singing in clubs on the exotic island of Mykonos, Greece in 1992 and it changed everything he knew about the intimacy of music. Since moving back to Nashville in 2014 from Chicago, he has found a musical home at the Nashville Jazz Workshop both as performer, as well as, mentor. About this relationship, Robert says, “I love studying music and performance. The Workshop is a safe place to do that. To be able to share my take on classic American music through jazz or any other style gives me great joy. I now have a musical home in this city in which to do that, adding to its rich musical heritage.”
One of his shows, Because of You: a Tribute to Tony Bennett, was praised by the Chicago Tribune, with Howard Reich saying “Whorton holds his own with the songs of Mr. Bennett.” In 2006, following his success as a performer at the Chicago Cabaret Convention, he was asked to be a featured performer in New York at the NY Cabaret Convention marking his debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center. During his twenty years in Chicago, Robert performed in many clubs including Davenport’s, Maxim’s, Chicago Cultural Center, The Storefront Theater, Gentry of Chicago and Drury Lane Water Tower. In addition to his cabaret shows in New York and Greece, he has co-starred with renowned songwriter David Friedman in the Midwest premiere of the off-Broadway success of Listen to My Heart: The Music of David Friedman.